


Keep him safe

by spacedaydreamer



Series: safe end!vlr au [4]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Hand injury, it's an ending; huzzah!, mild description of blood/injury, safe end!junpei au, safe end!vlr au, suicide (both attempted and successful)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 12:24:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10990887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: All that mattered to Junpei was finding Quark. He just had to find him, to get him out of here. That was all that was important, in the end. He had to keep his son safe.





	1. Chapter 1

“Alice! Luna! The green door!”

The second Sigma spoke, everyone else was jolted into action. Nona followed behind Junpei into the blue door, and he was certain everyone else made it into their doors. Neither of them spoke after the secondary door opened, Junpei just continuing to hold Quark.

They entered in silence into a rec room, and Junpei felt his heart sink. Those suits of armor had weapons… if Quark got one, then… _no!_ He couldn’t think of that, he had to think of something else.

“Let…. Let go of me…”

“Just calm down, buddy. Please. Just listen to me, it’s gonna be ok-“

“No! No, let go! Let me _go!_ You understand, _don’t_ you Grandpa?! I _have_ to die! It’s the _only way_ we can get out!”

“No, you’re wrong! Just _trust_ me, Quark. _Please_.”

He could tell his voice was shaking, but he really couldn’t care less at this point. Quark was writhing and kicking, doing everything in his power to get out of Junpei’s arms. He punched and kicked- until he finally managed to lodge a knee into Junpei’s solar plexus, making him drop to the ground and release Quark from his grasp.

“Q-Quark… stop…”

The boy had made a break for the armor suits, but Nona intercepted him. She forced him to the ground in a hold, trapping his arms behind his back as he continued to struggle fruitlessly.

“Let me _go! Let me **GO!**_ ”

“Calm down, Quark! Just calm down!”

Junpei had sat up, but he couldn’t bring himself to go over to help. It was pointless. Quark was infected… in the end, it was only a matter of time. Sure, they’d developed a cure, and he knew it existed on the moon- but there was no way in hell he’d be able to escape this place, find another rhizome, get the cure, and then give it to Quark, all before he killed himself. It was pointless. Completely and utterly pointless.

“Sir, can you _please_ give me a hand here?”

Junpei sighed and stumbled over, kneeling down beside the both of them. It looked like Quark had stopped moving- he must’ve passed out from the exertion. Nona was panting lightly, and she looked uncomfortable- Junpei couldn’t blame her. Nobody wanted to see that. He’d never wanted to grow used to it.

“Just what the hell _was_ that?”

“Radical-6.”

“Wh-what? But, I thought-“

“There’s absolutely no doubt. Quark is infected with radical-6.” Nona went silent, and Junpei looked down at Quark. Well, perhaps he couldn’t save him, but he could at least get him out of this room… he propped the boy’s body up against a wall in a semi-seated position, and turned to look around the place. “We should get to figuring out how to escape. It’ll do us no good if we’re stuck in here, and there’s too many things that he could use to kill himself.”

“No, just hold on! What do you _mean_ there’s no doubt that he’s infected?! How could you know that? Why does it mean that he wants to kill himself?”

“That’s a lot of questions, there.” Junpei eyed her warily, but it was clear that she wouldn’t move until he gave her an answer. “Fine. There’s no doubt, because I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen the virus countless times, and I know how it kills. I _know_ that, because it’s not 2028. The virus escaped in 2029- it’s been years since then.”

If he didn’t say _how many_ years, then he’d probably be fine. He’d just tell her not to tell anyone.

“As for why it makes him want to kill himself… I’m not really sure. They say it’s because your brain’s processing speed slows down, and it screws up your perception of reality- everything gets warped, to a point where it simply becomes too much. I’m not too sure how much of that I believe, though.”

“…huh?”

“….It’s nothing. Look, I told you what I know. So let’s just get out of this room, ok?”

“No, definitely not! What do you _mean_ it’s been years since the virus escaped?! That’s impossible, I was kidnapped in 2028, for sure-“

“I’m not lying. I have no reason to lie, not now.”

“That’s- but-“

“Look, you don’t have to believe me. But _please_ , just help me get him out of here. There might be drugs we could use to sedate him if we could get back to the infirmary- we have to _try_.”

Even if it was hopeless, Junpei couldn’t sit back and let Quark die. He was a _father_ , and Quark was his son. There was no way in _hell_ that he’d just let this happen, even if it meant he had to die a thousand times.

“….Alright. Let’s move quickly.”

He was relieved when she agreed quickly, and they set to work. There were a great many things about the place that were suspicious- the Zero Jr ride, the pool table, and suit of armor, and the cupboard full of luminol all drawing his attention. The latter was especially of interest to him- but, why? Why did it feel… important?

Well, it didn’t matter. If it was important enough, he’d figure it out later.

They worked through the puzzles in the room, eventually coming to the rabbit ride. It was cute, in a way- Junpei wondered if Akane might’ve liked something like this. Something at the back of his mind whispered that yes, she certainly did, but he ignored it. Whether or not Akane would like it didn’t matter.

“Um…. Sir? Do you want to ride it, or something?”

“Wh-what?! No way, absolutely not.”

“It’s just, you’ve been staring at it awful intently…”

“I do _not_ want to ride that thing. You knock yourself out, but I am _not_ getting anywhere _near_ it.”

“If you’re _sure_ …” Nona started biting her lip, clearly thinking about something- when she suddenly dragged Junpei over with surprising force, plopping him down sideways on the ride and sliding a coin in. “Have fun!”

“Wh-what? You--!”

He had to scramble awkwardly to right himself, in a desperate attempt not to get thrown off by the ride. It lasted far too long, Nona laughing the entire time- and then it finished with a flash, getting a picture of his exasperated face to immortalize the humiliating experience.

“Oh, just _look_ at your face here! This is _so_ great- mind if I hold onto it?”

“You give me that _right now-_ “

Nona pulled the photo out of his reach at the last second, jumping back and waving it around.

“Nice try, but nope! I’m totally keeping thi- huh? There’s something on the back…”

Junpei used her moment of distraction to snatch the photo from her hands, checking the numbers on the back before quickly shoving it into his pocket.

“Hey, give it back! I wanted to show Alice!”

“Nope, no way. Not gonna happen.”

“Grouchy old man…”

“What did you say?”

“Noooothing.”

Nona simply hummed in a sing-song voice, before they went back to solving the rest of the puzzles in the room. They managed to work well together, much to Junpei’s delight, and they found code to the safe in good time.

“G…grandpa? What… happened?”

“Quark?”

Junpei spun around on his heel, finding Quark right behind him. He still didn’t look all there, but he certainly looked _better_ \- perhaps the virus had eased off for a bit? Who knew.

“My head feels really funny… like it was stuffed with cotton, or something.”

“That’s… it’s nothing. Look, let’s hurry- we should be getting you to the infirmary, ok?”

“Huh? Why?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just trust me, ok?”

“Okay…”

Quark nodded slowly, just as that same masculine announcer came over the speakers in the room. Someone had opened an AB gate- dammit, didn’t they know to wait for everyone?!

“Let’s hurry!”

Nona set off at a run, not waiting to see if Quark and Junpei were following her. Junpei picked Quark up so that they could keep pace with her, but he was still panting heavily by the time they reached the elevator.

“You can set me down, grandpa. I’m feeling better now.”

“Are you _sure?_ ”

“Yeah, I’m positive.”

“…alright.”

The ride up the elevator felt long, too long. They took off at a run for the lounge, ducking through the door-

“Where’s Quark?”

“H-huh?”

“I don’t hear him! I don’t hear Quark!”

Junpei skidded to a stop, and looked behind him. It was true, Quark wasn’t running with them- he wasn’t _anywhere._

“No! No, no _no!_ Dammit Quark, where’d you go?! _Answer me!_ ”

“S-sir, calm dow-“

“Do you think I can be _calm?!_ ” Nona winced, and Junpei felt bad- but only for a moment. Now was not time to dwell. “Fuck, it doesn’t matter! We’ve gotta tell everyone in the warehouse, then we _have_ to go find Quark! There’s no telling what he’ll do- if he gets his hands on something, then he’ll… he’ll…”

No. He couldn’t think about that. He didn’t even _want_ to think about the _slightest possible chance_ that it could be true.

By the time they burst through the magenta door, everyone had already congregated nearby. It looked like Sigma and Dio were about to get into a fight, but _who cared!_

“Have any of you seen Quark?!”

The looks of confusion on their faces were obvious, and it was Phi who spoke for the group.

“Why, did something happen to him?”

“He’s _missing!_ ”

Everyone started speaking over each other at this point, asking question after question- aaaargh, there was _no fucking time for this!_ Junpei gave a quick nod to Nona, and spun around. He needed to find Quark, he _needed_ to find Quark… probably the infirmary, then. That was it, Junpei’d mentioned the infirmary. He had to be there.

However, all he found after entering the door was an empty room- save for one person.

Aoi.

Junpei found himself staring, unable to move. He hadn’t seen Aoi’s body since before the previous AB game, and yet, here he was… Aoi’s body was here, his chest and arms coated in his own blood. A part of him _urged_ him to get closer, to look, but he couldn’t _now!_ He had to find Quark!

“Carlos? Oh, thank goodness. Nona said you might be here.”

“K?”

The armored man had run into the room, his breathing audible through the metal mask.

“We’ve split up to search the entire floor. Once we’ve finished, we’re searching the lower floor. We’re to take the blue door, and search behin-“

“ _We?_ ”

“O-Oh, well I believed you would desire some help.”

“Hmpf.” Junpei crossed his arms, scanning around the infirmary once more. “Fine. Let’s move.”

The rec room hadn’t changed at all since the first time he’d been there, which was both a good _and_ a bad thing. One the one hand, Quark hadn’t taken any of the weapons… but on the other, it meant that he wasn’t here.

“Carlos? K?” It looked like today was going to be a day of surprises- Luna had run into the room, a frantic look on her face. “It’s- it’s- Alice is…. She’s…”

“Luna? What the hell is it?!”

“J-Just go to the crew’s Quarters! I still need to find Sigma and Phi!”

Junpei and K looked at each other in confusion, but nodded and sprinted off. He _wanted_ to keep looking for Quark, but something told him this was… important. Their footsteps echoed off the metal hallways as they ran for the crew’s Quarters, waiting to see what they’d discovered.

When they entered the room, Junpei felt his heart stop for a moment.

Alice was… dead.

Nona was crouched silently by the body, and Dio stood far from her, unmoving. Quark was nowhere to be seen; and the sound of footsteps implied that Sigma, Luna, and Phi were right behind them.

Just as before, accusations had begun to get thrown around- when suspicion fell onto Nona. She hardly seemed responsive, just mumbling softly to herself over and over. Junpei wanted to defend her, to say how preposterous that was; but how could he? It was impossible, unless he wanted to reveal the truth.

“They killed you… I can’t trust them anymore… none of them…”

Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, but Junpei was close enough to hear it. Her words broke his heart, but he could hardly blame her- if it was Quark, then Junpei would…

Wait. No, it couldn’t be… it was…

Junpei’s heart started pounding in his chest, and he looked at the knife lodged into Alice. Her clothes were mostly undisturbed, and her body had slumped peacefully down the wall- if it wasn’t for the blood coating her chest and pooling down onto the floor, it almost might’ve looked like she was sleeping.

This wasn’t a _murder_ … this was a suicide.

The truth was cruel, far too cruel. However, Junpei knew he couldn’t explain it to her. Nona was strong, and she was smart, but it was too risky for Junpei to tell her the truth here and now. Perhaps if he was lucky, she’d remember what he’d told her, but he didn’t count on it.

The group kept arguing, but Junpei didn’t pay attention anymore. It was all pointless- two of them had been infected with radical-6, and if _two_ of them had it, then there was a very strong chance that the rest of them would catch it soon, as well. The only hope he had to save Quark now was to get him isolated from here, to escape… Junpei no longer had a choice.

He called Nona over to talk before the next round of the AB game, doing his best to ensure he didn’t look at her.

“I’m gonna pick ally. Nona, will you… I know you can’t trust me, but _please_. Pick ally too.”

“I… okay.”

Her eyes were distant, and Junpei wasn’t entirely sure that she’d really heard him, but he had to hope. He had to believe that she’d heard him, even if it was for entirely selfish reasons. He had to do this, for Quark. All of this was for Quark.

For him.

Junpei entered the ambidex room alone, and picked betray.


	2. Chapter 2

When Junpei got out, he didn’t bother looking at the results. He already knew what they were- he’d have 4 BP, and Quark would have nine. He left the group at the monitor, expecting nobody to care and not wanting to hear Nona’s reaction- when he saw Luna running up behind him, tears in the corners of her eyes.

“C-Carlos? Do you… May I help you look for Quark?”

“No.”

“Wh-what?”

“… is what I _want_ to say, but I could use all the help I could get. Come with me, if that’s what you want.”

She nodded, biting her lip and doing her best to stop herself from crying. Once they’d left the warehouse, Luna spoke to him once more, her voice hardly audible.

“Actually, I… I found him, earlier. I just didn’t have time to say anything, before Dio told me about Alice…”

“What? Where is he?! Luna, please-“

“Don’t worry, he’s safe. I made sure he’d be safe. He’s in a room behind the green door, the treatment center.”

She didn’t say anything more, only taking off at a run with Junpei following suit. Quark was in some sort of pod, but Junpei didn’t care about any more specifics. He was _safe_. He was _safe,_ and _alive,_ and that was all that mattered.

“You’re going to leave now, aren’t you?”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“…no. Please, keep him safe.”

“Why did you tell me where he was, even though you knew I’d take him out of here?”

“Because…” Luna’s face fell, and her eyes drifted to her bracelet. The number 3 shone harshly from her wrist, and Junpei understood.

“He betrayed you, huh?”

“Yes…”

“So, I guess you just don’t care anymore, is that it?”

“No… no, not quite. I just… I just wanted to do something _right_. I wanted to save at least one person. I can’t trust anyone… but Quark didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t deserve to get such a horrible disease…”

Junpei’s eyes widened, then narrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“O-Oh! Um, Th-that is..”

“You know radical-6?”

“N-No, of course not-“

“Who _are_ you, Luna? How the hell could you know this?”

“I-I’m…” She looked around the room in desperation, but she couldn’t escape Junpei’s gaze. Eventually she looked him dead in the eye, her face unnaturally calm. It was almost… inhuman. “I suppose, I’m a part of this place. Like Sigma, although he doesn’t know it yet.”

“What?”

“Now, you should hurry and go. Before someone finds us.”

Junpei’s mind was swimming, but he didn’t know what to say. What could he _possibly_ say to that?! Luna and Sigma were a part of this place… what could that mean?

But in the end, it didn’t matter. Junpei had found Quark, so whatever she was talking about was irrelevant, now. Junpei could get Quark out of here.

He’d put the boy’s hand on the lever when Sigma arrived alone.

“Carlos? You found Quark!”

“Yep.”

“But… what are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.”

“How? You don’t have nine BP-“

“Sure, but _he_ does.”

Sigma’s eye looked to Quark’s hand on the lever, and it was clear he understood.

“Are you… but, you’ll die!”

“ _Hah!_ I don’t wanna hear that from _you_ , Sigma.”

“Carlos-“

“I can’t see how you could _possibly_ care. After all, aren’t you the same? You betrayed Luna just to get more points, even though you couldn’t possibly get out yet- you didn’t even have a _motive_ for it. Although, I guess it’d make sense that something like _you_ wouldn’t always be logical to a person like me…”

“What the- what the _fuck_ are you talking about?! You’re not making any goddamned sense-“

“Goodbye, Sigma.”

With that Junpei pulled the lever, and waited for the nine door to open.

“Wait! Don’t, you’ll _die--!_ ”

“I’ve lived a long life. But Quark? He has to get out of here.”

“Then, just stay here!”

“I couldn’t live with myself if I just tossed him out there, unconscious. I need to stay with him as long as I can.”

“Then _just_ _stay here!_ You didn’t have to do this!”

“You’re wrong. There’s a killer here. And it’ll keep killing, until everyone trapped here is dead.”

“Wh-what?!”

Junpei didn’t listen to anything more that Sigma said, walking through the door. He had to get Quark out of that place… that infestation of radical-6. It was a shame that he had to leave Nona behind, but… Quark was more important. Quark was _everything_ to Junpei.

When he finally heard the door shut behind him the masculine voice spoke up, blaring from the speakers.

“Warning. Warning. Unauthorized escape. Administering penalty.”

The needles stabbed into his wrist, and he suddenly felt weak- he collapsed to the ground, Quark falling in front of him. It seemed that the movement woke the boy up, because he was staring at Junpei…

“Grandpa? Grandpa?!”

“O-Oh… hey there, buddy… glad you’re… awake…”

“Grandpa? What’s going on- Your bracelet!”

There was a pink neon skull shining harshly over the bright red _4_ on his wrist, revealing what he’d done. Quark had started crying, tears streaming down his face, but Junpei only smiled. He forced himself into a seated position, resting a tired hand on Quark’s shoulder. Then, with his other, he pulled the photographs out of his pocket- the one from before, as well as the ones he kept safely in his wallet- and pressed them into Quark’s hands.

“You should… be safe… now…… ok? You’ll… be perfectly… safe…”

“Grandpa, no! Stop it! Please, Stop it! I don’t- I don’t want this! _Please!_ ”

He continued to sob, and Junpei did his best to pull the boy closer, roughly wiping a few tears from his cheek with his thumb.

“It’ll be… alright… Quark. You’ll be… just fine…… And I… I’ll…” His body was getting heavy, so heavy… how long had he been awake, now? Sleep sounded very nice… “I’ll always… be… watching you… Quark… I promise…”

“ _Please,_ Grandpa! I’m not ready to be alone yet! _I don’t want to be alone yet! Please don’t leave me alone!_ ”

Junpei wanted to say something more, but his mouth would no longer move. He wanted to comfort Quark, but his arms would no longer respond. He felt so very tired… In the end, all he could do was give Quark one last smile before he fell asleep for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think about this particular bad ending quite a lot. ZTD reveals that radical-6 is only a 75% chance of killing the victim, so there's a chance that Quark does live... regardless, this ending is very cruel to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Junpei wasn’t sure why he’d decided to stick around to watch the results- he already knew what it’d be. He’d betrayed Nona- and yet, he couldn’t leave. Perhaps it was some sense of guilt, or maybe it was something else, but for whatever reason he simply couldn’t walk away.

“Sir… w-why?”

Nona was looking at him with large, sad eyes- she was betrayed, and yet, it almost seemed as if she’d _expected_ this. How could that possibly be? And, if she’d expected it, then why not pick betray?

“I needed to save Quark. I just… I needed to make sure he’d have enough BP.”

“But… but _why?!_ I thought I could- I wanted to- You should _know_ better! You should _know_ that I wouldn’t betray you!”

“N-Nona?”

“You’re an idiot! You’re such a dumbass!”

Nona spun around on her heel, not giving Junpei any time to react. What had she meant? Had she… had she realized who he was? Surely, that was impossible. Yeah, he’d given her a couple of _hints_ , but he’d never outright stated who he was. It should’ve been incomprehensible to her to even _imagine_ that it’d be him.

And yet, he got the undeniable feeling that maybe, just _maybe_ , she’d figured out exactly who he was.

Dazed, Junpei watched Nona run for the cyan door. He wanted to chase after her, to explain more- but what could he really say? So instead he simply ran through the magenta door, and went to look again for Quark.

For the third time, he found himself heading to the rec room. It wasn’t that he was _drawn_ to it, or anything that stupid- it was just that he felt like he was _missing_ something. There was something _very important_ here, something that he felt like he needed- but what? What was it?

He simply didn’t know.

“Oh, Carlos. It’s you.” Phi called out to him in her usual semi-bored tone, watching him while Sigma scanned the room. “No sign of him, huh?”

“Are you _happy?_ ”

“What? No, of course not.”

“Then, are you _scared?_ So terrified that your chest aches, and you feel like you might split in two?”

Neither of them responded- obviously they wouldn’t be that scared. Why would they be?

“Hah. Thought so. So, if you’re just gonna get in my way, then screw off.”

“Carlos, what’s gotten into you? You’re acting weird.”

“What the hell would _you_ know, Sigma?!” Junpei knew he was getting mad, but he didn’t care. He was too tired- this game had simply taken far too much from him. “Quark’s all I have left. If something’s happened to him, I’ll… I’ll…”

He couldn’t finish the statement, but it was clear by the worry on their faces that they knew his intent.

“It’s all my fault that he’s here. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I shouldn’t have brought him along…”

“Did you say… brought?”

“…Yes. Zero made me an offer.”

“W-wait, I thought you said you and Quark were abducted, like the rest of us!”

“You came here voluntarily, then?”

Phi had crossed her arms, looking to the side. She was clearly wondering _something_ , but whatever it was didn’t matter. Even if she thought he might be Zero, it didn’t matter.

“Well, I should go looking for Quark.”

“Wait, no no _no!_ You’re not just _walking away_ , not after dropping a bomb like that!” Sigma moved to block Junpei’s exit, arms spread out to get in his way. “You’re gonna tell us what went on, and now! How do you know Zero-“

“I _don’t_. I have no idea who Zero is. All I _do_ know, is that right now, Quark might as well be a hostage. Zero Jr knows everything that happens here, and we don’t know where Quark is. It doesn’t matter _who_ you are, whether or not I can trust you- I can’t tell you anything more. If I do, then… who knows what Zero Sr would do.”

“Carlos…”

“Look, I’m gonna go now, ok? I need to keep looking for Quark.”

Neither of them seemed to have the heart to stop him after that, allowing him to run out of the room. He made it into a large warehouse, where he found Dio- Junpei didn’t even bother stopping, immediately running out and back to the elevator.

Before he had time to realize where he was going, he realized his feet had taken him to the infirmary.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

Here, again. And once again, Junpei felt like he shouldn’t leave. Reluctantly, he finally went to examine Aoi’s corpse.

He’d been wearing a white dress shirt that went down to about his elbow, with black cuffs folded back. Amethyst cufflinks held them in place- but it all contrasted horrifically with the dark red stain on his chest, and his arms…

His… arms…?

Junpei wasn’t sure why, but he picked up Aoi’s left wrist. And, there it was- it was what he needed to know, the reason his mind had been yelling at him to come here.

_Aoi **had** been intended to be one of the participants._

That meant, whoever’d killed Aoi wasn’t supposed to be here, and their bracelet had blood on it- _The Luminol!_ Junpei spun around, about to make a run for it, when Nona slammed into him and sent him flying across the floor.

“S-Sir?! What’re you- N-no, it doesn’t matter! P-Please, there’s no- Luna, she’s-“

“Nona, calm down. What happened?”

“L-Luna… sh-she’s… please, just grab the AED! We have to save her!”

“ _Save?_ Nona, you’re not making sens-“

“ _There’s no time!_ ”

Nona had grabbed onto the AED, moving back for the door- when someone entered the room.

Dio.

“You sure did a number on poor Luna, didn’t you?”

“Sh-shut up! It was an accident, I’ve gotta go help-“

“Oh, _as if_. You were probably happy she died, weren’t you?”

“No! There’s _no way_ I could be happy about this! So, just _get out of my way-_ “

Nona started to run, attempting to duck under Dio’s arms, but he wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her sideways, a cruel expression on his face.

“Not so fast, brat. I think it’s a lot more fun if we just leave her there, don’t you?”

“What are you _saying?!_ She’ll _die!_ ”

“She’s already dead, you delusional idiot. Are you really _that much_ in denial?”

“No, I’m- ugh, just _let me go! Let me go right now!”_

Junpei had stood up, but he was hardly following them. Nona had killed Luna? What? None of this made any sense- and then Dio pulled out a knife. The same knife that Alice had killed herself with.

“You’re gonna calm the _fuck_ down _right now_ , you little bitch. Or I slice open your fucking neck.”

“What the hell are you doing, Dio?!”

“Oh, Carlos. Didn’t see you there, you old fuck.”

Junpei glared, clenching his fists. If Nona could just give him an opening, then… As if she’d heard his thoughts she suddenly threw her elbow back, making Dio fumble for a second and giving her time to slip out of his grasp. Junpei took that second to attack, roaring as he leapt for Dio.

It was a valiant effort, but he was old and tired- he managed to lay a good few hits on Dio, one catching him solid on his cheekbone, but Dio still had that knife. He slammed the butt of it into Junpei’s chest, forcing him to drop to his knees; then kicked out to send Junpei sprawling backwards, into the sink. His head hit the pipe below with a hard clang and his vision went blurry, not able to react properly when he felt someone lift his right arm, and chain something around it.

By the time his brain had finally unscrambled, he could somewhat make out what’d happened- Dio had handcuffed he and Nona beneath the sink, trapping the both of them.

“Yeah, yeah! This is a good look for the two of you, I’d say.”

“Dio, you _bastard!_ Let us _go!_ ”

“Tch, you’re a noisy little bitch, aren’t you? Fine, I’ll cut you a deal. You kill this old man, and I’ll let you free. After all, it’s not like he really matters to you- it shouldn’t really be a hard choice.”

“Th-that’s- I- No! I could _never_ do that!”

Dio crouched down in front of them, twirling the knife lazily in his fingers, His smirk only seemed to grow, as he waved it in front of them, as if _taunting_ the both of them.

“Well, how ‘bout you cut off your hands, then? You’ll definitely be able to slip out of those if one of you cuts it off.”

“Dio…” Furious, Junpei moved before thinking. His left hand reached out, trying to grab _anything_ \- his hand hit the blade of the knife, grabbing hold and attempting to pull it from Dio’s grasp. It was futile of course, all it did was injure him further, but at least he’d _tried_. “I’ll kill you. It doesn’t matter how many times it takes, I swear I’ll kill you.”

“Hah! Looks like you’re going senile there, old man.” Dio stood up and made for the exit, sadistic grin never leaving his face. “Well, I should be going now. If you two know what’s good for you, then you’ll know enough to start yelling. These doors are pretty thick, but who knows? Maybe someone’ll hear you…”

And with that the door closed behind him, leaving them in silence.

“You could’ve done it, you know. You should’ve killed me, then you’d get ou-“

“You know I could never do that, Junpei.”

“……” He sighed, and looked down at the ground. He’d been right, then. Unfortunately. “When did you figure it out?”

“Around the time when we found that body. In the crew’s quarters, you said _‘He just decided to up and murder A- that old man for fun?’_ ‘A’ was Aoi, wasn’t it? I remember that you said you’d bought him something, and he had a necklace that looked similar to what you described for us…”

“…You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

“No… but Junpei, why did _you_ change? Why are you so… old?”

“That’s… a long story. But, it’s not like we’ve got much to worry about, anymore…” He looked to the side, before starting to talk. “I can’t tell you everything, because it’d take far too long, but the year isn’t 2028. It’s 2074. It’s been 45 years since the end of the Dcom experiment… and since radical-6 was released into the world. A lot’s happened since then, but… the world kept moving, even after you and Alice disappeared. It never stopped going, and I guess you guys got left behind.”

Nona was shaking slightly, and Junpei didn’t blame her. This had to be horrible to take in, far too horrible…

“What happened to Mom, and Seven? And… and Ennea?”

“I… don’t know. I warned them about the outbreak pretty early on, and told them to get to shelter, but I never went back home. In April 2029, there was a worldwide disaster- all the active antimatter plants were set off at the same time, throwing the world into a nuclear winter. After that, I… I didn’t hear from them ever again. I couldn’t get satellite signals for seven years, and after that point, you’d be _lucky_ if you had any sort of wireless phone that worked.”

Walkie-talkies were easy to fix up, so he and Carlos had been fond of them- but they wouldn’t work from there to Japan, that was way too far. Junpei desperately hoped that they’d all survived the explosions, but… well, even if they _had_ , Hazuki and Seven had probably died a while ago. They were older than Junpei, and if _he_ was almost 70, then…

“I see… thanks for telling me.”

There was a distant look in her eyes, and the room fell silent again. What more was there to say, really? To Nona, she’d just realized that not _only_ had everyone she’d ever known likely died, but it had all happened while she was safely tucked away, in who-knows-where. And now, they were both going to die, from these bracelets… the bracelets…

“The bracelets!” Had Junpei been capable of standing, he certainly would’ve at that point. Instead, his free hand ducked down into his pocket, pulling out a sheet of aluminum foil. It felt like he had picked it up years ago by now, and he’d almost forgotten it after everything that had happened. “This is it! This is how we avoid the injections! You can use this stuff to block of the electric pulses, and then the bracelet will think you’re dead-“

“It’s pointless.”

“Wh-what?”

“Even if we don’t get killed by the bracelets, we’ll still die some other way. It’s pointless.”

“Nona, you can’t just give up like that-“

“We just need to die, Junpei. It’s as simple as that.”

She turned to stare him in the face, and Junpei’s heart stopped. She was sweaty and pale, and her eyes were glassy and distant- _no! Her, too?!_

“Nona, you have to snap out of it. That’s the sickness talking, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Just let me die. Please, Junpei. I just want to die.”

“Nona, no. I’m not going to let you die.” He reached over with the foil, attempting to wrap it around her bracelet, but she easily swatted it out of his hand, skidding out of their reach and under one of the beds. “N-no…”

“There. Now, we’ll die- we’ll get to see mom, and Ennea, and Alice, Aoi, Akane… and Quark.”

“Q-Quark? What’re you- _what are you talking about?!_ ”

“Luna had this.” Nona pulled out a bracelet, and Junpei felt his heart stop. He knew what the bracelet meant, and yet… something told him that Quark was alright. He wasn’t sure why, but the bracelet didn’t terrify him like it should’ve.

_“Actually, I… I found him, earlier. I just didn’t have time to say anything, before Dio told me about Alice…”_

_“What? Where is he?! Luna, please-“_

_“Don’t worry, he’s safe. I made sure he’d be safe. He’s in a room behind the green door, the treatment center.”_

Junpei winced at the memories, the sudden intrusion painful and blaring, but wholly welcome. This was proof enough for him… Quark was alive. Oblivious to his internal monologues, Nona kept talking. “Isn’t that _good_ , Junpei? We’ll see them again- we’ll be _happy_.”

“No. There’s nothing that happens after death, Nona. You won’t be happy. You won’t be anything at all.”

He found himself strangely calm, despite everything. Despite the fact that Nona had gone insane, he was strangely at peace with his death- perhaps it was that the idea of finally being granted just pure _nothing_ was inviting. Quark was safe, he was alive… and a pure, total death, without any more memories of other lives where things had gone better… that did sound nice.

While he was distracted, Nona had shoved her finger into the cut on Junpei’s hand, coating it in blood. She then went to writing something on her thigh, smiling all the while.

“ _Augh!_ What’re you..?”

“It’s a thank-you to Dio, for finally letting us get out of here. When the others see it, they’ll know what he did, and then they can free _him_ , too. Everyone’ll be free, to escape from here. We’ll all get to die.”

Even though her words were the by-product of radical-6 and insanity, he was quite okay with her actions. And, after what he’d done, he would be quite glad if Dio was to die. Junpei believed that he’d be able to have his vengeance in another timeline, but _that_ wasn’t _this_ one. In _this_ one, he’d simply have to hold onto the hope that one of the other game participants would find their bodies, and kill Dio for him.

Time passed, and nobody came for them. Junpei didn’t say anything when the bracelets injected them, only slumping forwards as his body grew heavy. Despite the fact that his memories were only of another timeline, he was still quite certain that Quark was alive in this one. He knew without a doubt that Quark had a chance, that someone would be able to get him out of this place. And when he thought of it like that, he could die peacefully.

Junpei was not a religious man. He’d died too many times to believe in any sort of life after death, and he knew that the only ‘second chances’ were taken by stealing the life of a different version of yourself. Despite everything he was certain of, though… he still found the idea of Nona’s radical-6-induced speech… pleasant. It _had_ been some time since he’d seen Carlos, and he’d love to speak with Aoi and Akane once more…

Maybe if not in this life, then they’d at least get to meet again in the next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah, Luna's ending. AKA, the ending that made me cry like a baby and have to stop playing for the night when I first played VLR, all those years ago.
> 
> In my defense, I cry very easily.
> 
> ANYWAYS, back on topic. In all seriousness, This is one of the main endings I had in mind from the moment I even considered writing a VLR au. I figure you would be able to guess which ones the other two are, your first ones are probably correct- but I'm not going to give away the answer, haha.
> 
> There's a lot of moving parts and things to keep track of while writing for VLR, especially considering I've gone off the rails and changed some minor plot things (or rather, the order certain plot things are gonna happen). It's both more and less structured than ZTD in a way, but I don't really mind- both had their own unique challenges, after all!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading!


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